On the cusp of Advent, beholding the Jesse Tree
Jeremiah 23:5
“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” [1]
The words are those of the prophet Jeremiah, speaking to God’s ancient people Israel, in a time long before the birth of Christ.
And it is in those centuries long ago that our journey this morning begins.
Jeremiah’s words of hope about a king descended from the line of David stand amidst other words spoken by the prophet - words of challenge and warning for the people of Israel.
Their faithlessness, their worship of false gods, their refusal to walk in the ways of the Lord; this was bringing close a time of calamity.
Jeremiah foresaw what would soon come to pass.
The bitterness and shame of defeat, of banishment, of exile, far from the Promised Land.
The kingdom established in times past by the great King David was to come crashing down. The line of David would fall into obscurity.
And yet, the prophet Jeremiah sees something more, something afar off but yet glimpsed through the gloom of defeat, banishment, and exile.
Jeremiah hears God speak of David’s line as a tree, a tree that continues to grow through the times of gloom, through long, dark centuries.
“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king …”
Jeremiah’s words are echoed by another great prophet, Isaiah.
Isaiah says, “A shoot shall come from the stock of Jesse”. Now Jesse had been the father of King David. The same promise is heard. David’s line will not end, even through those dark times.
It is a promise that sustains the ancient people of Israel through the bitterness of exile from the Promised Land.
But, when the exile ends, the kingdom of David is not restored.
Back in the Promised Land, it feels like the exile continues. [2]
New empires arise, claiming dominion over God’s people Israel.
Through such times, the promise uttered by the prophet Jeremiah continues to be heard.
In the writings from those times, we hear one of Israel’s leaders invoke the promise: “David … inherited the throne of the kingdom for ever”. [3]
The promise, spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, continues to sustain the people of God through uncertainty, fear, and challenge: “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king …”
Long centuries pass.
Our journey brings us to another time, another place.
We find ourselves in northern Europe, in the 13th century.
It is the age when great cathedrals have been built - the cathedrals we still see today in Chartres, in Canterbury, in York.
As we walk through the cathedrals we see a particular image in stained glass, the image of a tree.
At the tree's root is the figure of Jesse, the father of King David. Then we see David. As the tree continues, we see figures from the line of David appear.
As we look towards the top of the tree, we see the figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and then, at the tree's top, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king …”
These stained glass windows we see in the great cathedrals of northern Europe are called Jesse Windows, showing the Jesse Tree - the family tree of Jesus.
The Jesse Windows portray what is proclaimed in the very opening words of the scriptures of the New Testament.
The first words of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, on the first page of the New Testament - “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David …” [4]
The promise proclaimed by Jeremiah has come to pass in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And so we hear the title ‘Son of David’ echo throughout the Gospels.
The Christians who built the great cathedrals of medieval Europe not only expressed this in their beautiful Jesse windows.
They also carved the Jesse Tree in wood and stone; they illustrated their Bibles and prayer books with it, in glorious illuminations; and they sang carols about it when they celebrated Christmas.
One of those carols is in our hymn books: “I know a rose-tree springing forth from an ancient root, as prophets once were singing. From Jesse came the shoot …” [5]
The truth proclaimed in the Jesse Windows of those great cathedrals, in the carved and sculpted Jesse Trees, in the illuminations found in hand-written manuscripts of the scriptures, and in the carols - all this was a source of hope across the centuries.
Amidst all that would come to pass as century succeeded century, in times of calm and turmoil, of war and peace, in ordinary lives marked by joys and fears, by life’s beginning and ending, the knowledge of the prophet Jeremiah’s word fulfilled in Jesus Christ brought hope and grace, peace and light.
As the New Testament proclaimed, as the Jesse Windows celebrated, Jeremiah’s words come to pass in Jesus Christ, the Son of David.
More centuries pass.
Our journey brings us to familiar surroundings - our parish church, on a Sunday in late November. Next Sunday is Advent Sunday.
Today we stand on the cusp of Advent.
Soon we will hear ring out the Advent prophecies of the Old Testament: "Comfort, O comfort my people says your God"; "the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light"; "a shoot shall come forth from the stock of Jesse".
We will be lighting the Advent wreath, and, as the weeks go by, we will be reminded of the hope of the line of David: in the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; in Jeremiah, Isaiah, and all the prophets; in the Forerunner, John the Baptist; and in the Maiden who carries her unborn Child towards Bethlehem, the city of David.
We will be singing the great hymns of Advent: O come, O come, Emmanuel; Come, thou long expected Jesus; Come, Thou Redeemer of the earth.
At next Sunday evening's Advent Procession, the season will beautifully begin with candlelight amidst Winter darkness, the great words of the prophets ringing out, hymns and anthems proclaiming the Advent hope, the hope seen in the Jesse Tree.
It is by lives firmly rooted in the promise of the Jesse Tree, rooted in Jesus Christ the Son of David and His reign, that we are assured, all our days, of God’s faithful promises and loving purposes …
That we might then approach the Child in the manger in faith, hope, and love, knowing - in heart and soul - that He is the One of whom the prophet spoke ...
When he said, “The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king”.
__________
[1] From the Old Testament reading appointed for the Sunday before Advent, Year C, Jeremiah 23:1-6.
[2] Nehemiah 9:36-37.
[3] I Maccabees 2:57.
[4] Matthew 1:1, Authorised Version.
[5] Church Hymnal, no.161.
[6] From 'Hail to the Lord's Anointed', Church Hymnal, no.125: this hymn is in the Advent section.
The stained glass is the 12th century Jesse Window in Chartres Cathedral. The illumination of the Jesse Tree is from the 12th century Lambeth Bible.
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